


Cuffs and Crowns

by covertius



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Reversal, M/M, yet another reverse captive prince fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 04:21:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 669
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6784963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/covertius/pseuds/covertius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the midst of civil war in Vere, Laurent is captured by his uncle and sent to Akielos to serve as a pleasure slave for Prince Damianos.  Now Laurent must find a way to escape and return to his own country before his uncle manages to use his capture to turn the war in his favor, and without opening a second front against Akielos, while navigating the intricacies of a foreign court where his manipulation skills will not help him as much as he would have supposed.  And to survive all this, without being broken or discovered, while he is forced to serve the man who ruined his life at Marlas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cuffs and Crowns

**Author's Note:**

> I am only posting this now so that it won't be deleted from the drafts folder While I do have a cohesive story planned out, I don't intend to work on it/update it until I finish at least one of the two other WIPs I have going right now. If you do find this buried deep in the feed, please either save it for later or go in knowing that it's a VERY FAR IN ADVANCE preview of things to come. Thanks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am only posting this now so that it won't be deleted from the drafts folder While I do have a cohesive story planned out, I don't intend to work on it/update it until I finish at least one of the two other WIPs I have going right now. If you do find this buried deep in the feed, please either save it for later or go in knowing that it's a VERY FAR IN ADVANCE preview of things to come. Thanks!

Men in blue coats swarmed into Chastillon, like a reverse of ants pouring from a hill.  No army, not even their traditional foe Akielos, had ever broken a Veretian fort - but his enemy now was no foreign power, and it had taken him only two days to smash through.  The Regent could hear the chaos from outside as the gates fell, swords clashing and men screaming as they died, and it did not take long for the sounds of fighting to move to the chambers and corridors of the hall itself.  He would have few men left after this.

The Regent sat in his great hall, in a chair like a throne, and waited.

The sounds of battle had nearly stopped when the doors finally opened.  Soldiers wearing the starburst marched in orderly lines nearly to where he sat, then snap-turned and fell back into two lines down the middle of the hall.  Walking down the aisle between them came his nephew:  golden-haired and broad-shouldered, though unnaturally pale and creased, as if his skin no longer fit him, dark bruises under each of his eyes.  He was aged beyond his years, and carried his sword now in his left hand, an empty sleeve where the right used to be.

"King Auguste," said the Regent, "I had heard the rumors, but I confess that it is still a surprise to see you out of bed."

His nephew put his sword up to the Regent's throat.

"Where is my brother?"

He stared up at the King impassively.  "I want Ladehors, Chasteigne, Lys, Arran, and Alier.  The rest of the country you may keep, and I'm sure you see how generous that is, as it allows you to retain both the capital and the lion's share of the land, even the valuable ports at Marches."

Laurent would have been unable to resist pointing out that the Regent's "generous" proposal gave himself the more valuable southern ports at Ladehors and Arran, as well as all of the vital forts on the border, even though he would know that responding to the plan at all was a give in the negotiations.  Auguste made no such remark, and the Regent could see that dealing with the older brother was going to be extremely tiresome.

"You are in no position to negotiate."

"Am I not?  I had thought you wanted to see your brother alive again, but if I am wrong, then you had better get on with it."

He leaned forward slightly, pressing the skin of his neck to the tip of Auguste's sword.

"We will find him."

"I am not such a fool as to keep him anywhere that you will look.  If you want him kept alive, and eventually returned to you, then you will treat with me as a fellow King."

"How do I know that he is alive now?"

"Because at least one of my men will break and tell you what they saw when he left here.  None of them know his final destination, but there are enough who caught a glimpse of him departing, and can swear he was still breathing then."  The Regent tilted his head.  "You could of course try to drag the specifics out of me.  I might break, under torture.  But if I did, I would certainly reveal a lot of other things first."  He switched into Vask.  "I'm sure you've guessed the reason I kept young Laurent alive after Marlas."

Auguste's hand on the sword whitened.

"Tell me where he is or I will gut you like the pig you are."

"Kill me, and Prince Laurent dies with me."

Auguste drew back.  "We shall see."

The Regent smiled.  Let his nephew search the land stone by stone; he would never find the prince within it.

"Ladehors, Chasteigne, Lys, Arran, Alier, and my freedom to return and take up rule there.  That is the price.  Though you will find it growing steeper as my patience wanes."

He rose, and let himself be taken into captivity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am only posting this now so that it won't be deleted from the drafts folder While I do have a cohesive story planned out, I don't intend to work on it/update it until I finish at least one of the two other WIPs I have going right now. If you do find this buried deep in the feed, please either save it for later or go in knowing that it's a VERY FAR IN ADVANCE preview of things to come. Thanks!


End file.
